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How to get perfect beachy curls

Today I'm excited to share a second hair tutorial for curly hair (here's the first!). My hair-stylist friend Reagan agreed to reveal her secret to getting loose bohemian curls. How gorgeous is her hair, above? Here's her easy trick...1. The "before" shot!
2. First, you want to take different-sized sections of hair, so your curls won't be too uniform. Take these partings of hair in varying sizes and wrap around the barrel of your curling iron. (Hair stylists swear by the Marcel 1" curling iron, since it won’t flatten your hair and gives you more body). Leave the last couple of inches of hair out to not curl them because they would end up absorbing too much curl—which would end up looking too girly, like Shirley Temple. I also like to curl away from the face (going back, instead of forward) since it makes the curls flow away from your face, opening up your face more.
3. Once you pull your hair out of the curling iron, pull it straight for a few seconds, until the hair has cooled.
4-5. Repeat on the other side.
6. Finally, shake out the curls to loosen them up and make them look natural.

Overall, explained Reagan, adding heat does wonders for your hair, since it smoothes it and makes it shinier. This technique makes your curls look more controlled and graceful—and less crazy! Thank you so much, Reagan!

Beautiful styles, but I'd love to see something on actual curly hair though :) Magazines always do this too, "curly" hair tutorials a on girls with a slight wave, lol, so not the same thing! They are pretty though.

Agreed-on all fronts. I have curly hair, but still define the curl with the iron, it does smooth it, though honestly I would call this wavy not curly, and I don't see much difference between the before and after. An I also like looking at the hair tutorials regardless.

This is just what I needed! I have that "not quite straight but not quite curly" hair, which drives me crazy in the summer because it's too hot to straighten and gets frizzy instead of wavy! I'll have to give this a try. Thanks Joanna!http://www.thegoogleyear.blogspot.com.au/

Here's the question I have whenever I see tutorials like this on pinterest or other blogs, but I have never asked. I already have very curly hair...like super tight shirly temple curls underneath, with the crown of my head being more wavy. I would love to re-create this look but I have no idea how to do it with hair that is really curly. Do you blow dry it straight first. ANY advice is welcome... (www.blairsays.com)

every single day of my life! haha but mostly out of laziness and not wanting to blow dry my hair at the crack of dawn. I find that I still have to use a curling iron for a little definition when I take it out of the bun after work, but at least it gets the curls started :)

This is JUST what I needed this week! My hair is thin and bone-straight (fun, right?) so my ponytails always look boring and limp. Adding some wave is just what I've been trying to do, but with no success. I'll give this a try, thanks lady!

Has anyone ever tried braiding your hair, and then straightening the braid? I've heard that's another secret trick, but not sure if it works :)

As a curly girl who has been asking for hair tutorials for ages, this actually fits beautifully with where I'm at right now. I usually either flat-iron or put my hair up in a bun after a shower, and in the latter case, I'm left with something that looks a lot like Reagan's starting place. Not straight, not smooth, kinda nuts around the bottom. This is a beautiful fix that doesn't require starting over.

Love her hair, if my bangs would EVER grow out mine would look really similar (I hope!!) Question though... I've seen very similar tutorials using a curl stick rather than a curling iron. What are the advantages to using one over the other?

Not to jump on the bandwagon here, but speaking as a girl with 27 years of curly-hair-having experience, I feel qualified in pointing out that her hair is hardly curly. It's slightly wavy (and enhanced with heat tools) at best. There is a huge audience looking for new ways to style and wear our natural curls and corkscrews that doesn't require removing the curl before putting it back in! We would love to see a feature like that!

Yes! Love the blog, and this hair is beautiful, but it is not anywhere close to curly hair. I have curly hair, and to get my hair to do anything like this, I would have to blow-dry it STRAIGHT first! I would love to see a Reagan tutorial for real curly hair!

hey curly girls!! I also have super curly hair and here's what I do to get this same look!! (really, look at the photo on my blog)

AHEM. so after a shower, I comb through my hair with a kinda wide-toothed comb to get out all the tangles and separate the curls. I spray on some beachy spray (Bumble & Bumble?) and use the tips of my fingers to twist oil (Moroccan or Gooseberry or Nuxe) onto the very tippy-tips of my hair. then I blow-dry my hair (low heat if I have time, high heat if it's a normal, hurried day) while combing it with the comb. it allows some of the natural body to come through, but it combs out the super-curls and keeps the crown from being too poofy.

then I do this exact method shown here, wrapping portions of hair/curl around the barrel of a curling iron. I do it in like 10 sections. I have thick hair, so this whole process takes me about an hour. but, once I have perfect beachy waves, I don't have to wash my hair again for another 4-5 days. thank god for my shower cap ;)

PS: after I blow-dry my curly hair with the comb, it looks SOOOO BAD. I call it my "George Washington" wig. it's like, big and wavy and just really really fluffy. don't get discouraged when you get to this stage!! I promise, you can tame down that fluff and make it look so perfect and beachy and natural. I get lots of comments/compliments on my hair and it makes the whole process totally worth it! :)

Totally agree with those who said this isn't very curly... I have naturally super curly hair and I always see styles in magazines for strait hair only. It would be really nice to acknowledge curly girls too when making a so called "curly" hairstyle It seems bizarre not to!

I have pin-straight hair, and I even feel qualified pointing out that this is NOT curly hair. There was a similar response to the first "curly hair" tutorial, so hopefully there will be a real one soon..

Please do one for real curls! I mean these are neat and all but if I woke up with hair like the before I would say my hair was straight. Cause us curly people can't do any of these without taking an hour to burn our hair before we burn it some more. :]

Hi, I love your blog and I read it every day. I just have to say one thing... this isn't curly hair, this is wavy hair... us girls with curly hair can say that it is quite difficult to find any real tips for real curls, although it is easy to have them natural, it is difficult to find out how to style them, I would really love to see more tips on how to handle real curls and maybe suggestions on different styles. Thank you!!! :D

Im having a rEALLY hard time seeing a difference in the before and after pics. A little less frizzy perhaps.? My hair is very similar but I refer to it more as wavy, bendy, and annoying! I do get some ringlets but they are mixed in with a mash of other shapes. I would never spend time curling it to look essentially the same. I either blow it straight or diffuse it into much curlier. Ive noticed many of your pictures with hair, it seems like the hair isn't brushed. Is this a NYC style?

I have to agree with everyone else - that is not very curly hair at all. I'm surprised you posted another tutorial and called it "curly" after the comments on the last one. In any case, I love seeing hair tutorials and Reagan always looks beautiful.

My hair is wavy, and for some strange reason I feel like I need to stand up for the curly haired girls and say this is NOT curly hair. Not even a little bit. You should change these to "wavy hair" tutorials and find a girl with actual curly hair to do your next series. Even I would be offended if you did another "curly hair" tutorial with this girl after all of the feedback your readers are giving you.

Another good technique for making the most out of already naturally wavy hair, with no heat for when your hair is wet is to simply divide your hair into 2-4 sections, twist each section and let air dry. When hair is almost dry, unravel and tousle - voila. Just like here: http://prettygossip.com/2012/02/29/gorgeous-soft-waves-with-no-heat/

I think the curling iron technique works best on second-day hair, the technique I mention above is good right after washing!

Please don't confuse curls with waves. Two totally different beasts! Curly girls have spent years looking at magazines telling them straight > curls, and how to "curl" wavy hair- and have only been able to internalize the frustration. Doing this on a blog, with comments, can be dangerous.

Just to illustrate the point- a magazine [Lucky?] once sent a girl out with CURLY hair to test the crazy reactions she received. It was in a section where they usually try out a crazy trend like "no pants" or something. It was insanely offensive. If you are wondering the "over-reaction" it comes from years and years of being marginalized in magazines/ hair care.

Now if you had called this a wavy hair tutorial you would only being receiving positive response.

My hair would be considered borderline wavy/curly (depends on humidity!), but this technique is what I use a lot - you can do pieces throughout and it makes it a little more defined and less unruley than just letting it curl on its own. Unless you have very defined corkscrew curls, I think this works pretty well.

Agreed with Marie above (and every other commenter pointing out that Reagan, while a beautifully-coiffed girl, does not have curly hair.) Please stop billing her and these tutorials as 'for curly hair'. I'm sure you saw that the overwhelming majority of comments on Reagan's last 'curly hair' tutorial were mildly annoyed readers who didn't appreciate the mislabeling of the style tutorial. It's quite galling to see once again.

I can't tell the "before" from the "after." To me, it looks like running a brush through the before hair would produce the same, slightly smoother, result in seconds. Having stick-straight hair, I'd be curious to know how I could get that effect without heat.

Thank you for all these great comments! Reagan and I thought her hair qualified as a certain type of curly hair, but I see your point about Reagan's hair being more like "beachy waves" than straight-up curls. The styles we shared are perfect for girls with natural curls and waves, but I understand that some of you ladies have ringlets and corkscrew curls. Stay tuned for a tutorial just for you... It will be coming up soon! Thanks so much for pointing this out. xoxo

sounds like you and i have the same hair...very curly at the nape of neck and then random frizzy waves. I still use this technique that reagan uses. I have a 2' curling iron though. I pin my hair up, work from the bottom, and curl about 1 inch sections of my whole head to get the look above. other times, i go to sleep with my hair damp and wake up in the morning and curl the super tight curls at the nape of the neck and just the section framing my face to have a more polished look when my hair is curly.

Nice article that helpfull every body.This types of article i am looking forThanks for the nice informational post. Just found this site through another site and have really enjoyed this post from start to finish.

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